2025 Honda Grom First Ride Review and RACE

[Hugh Janus]

New look, who’s this? The 2025 Grom promises the same good times as before but wears new body panels to separate itself from last year’s bike. (Honda/)

Twelve-inch wheels and a 124cc engine aren’t considered exciting things in the world of motorcycles. Fortunately, nobody ever told Honda that. And so in 2013, it introduced the Grom.

This—the 2025 Grom—is not significantly different from that iconic first model and even less so from the third-generation Grom that it’ll replace. Actually, the 2025 Grom is identical to the previous model in terms of running equipment and only differs in tweaks to the following body panels:

• Headlight cover
• Front cowl
• Left/right shrouds
• Fuel tank cover
• Tank cap cover
• Left/right side covers

That, folks, is called sticking with a proven recipe.

The 2025 Honda Grom lineup. Base-model Groms are available in blue, white, or red color options. Grom ABS models are available in white, and the Grom SP in Matte Black Metallic. (Honda/)

New Look and More, Kind Of…

There’s a reason for the changes to the 2025 Grom however; Honda says its goal is to reach customers who might not have been drawn to last year’s look and the oversized “washers” that called attention to its easy-to-replace panels. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. But also, if you think you can do better and reach more people, might as well try. This is Honda trying, despite the Grom already being its bestselling streetbike.

There are other small attempts at attracting new customers, the first being a lower cowl that comes standard on the Grom SP but is available as an accessory for the base-model Grom and Grom ABS.

Related: 2024 Barber Small Bore Photo Gallery

One small fairing for Grom SP, one giant leap for the Grom platform. OK, that’s a bit of a stretch, but people are definitely excited to see the Grom SP come with an under cowl. That cowl will be available for purchase as an accessory for Grom and Grom ABS models. (Honda/)

The third and final shift in Honda’s approach is a new, more expansive lineup of accessories that can be purchased as part of its Hyper, Adventure, and Scads collections. Accessories include a windscreen, hand guards, side bags, and a seat bag, which should add a little versatility for anyone who uses the Grom as their errand runner.

The rest of the bike is, again, unchanged, which leaves you with a 124cc fuel-injected engine, 31mm inverted fork, and LCD dash. Big changes made in 2022 include a five-speed transmission, larger 1.6-gallon tank, thicker seat, and replaceable oil filter—things that are just as nice to have now as they were then, regardless of how you plan to use the Grom.

You aren’t exactly going to throw yourself over the bar with this brake package, but like the rest of the Grom’s hardware, parts are nice quality with plenty of performance for the job at hand. This doesn’t ride like a cheaply built bike. (Honda/)

Honda Grom, on the Street

Few people leave a Grom stock for any amount of time based on what we’ve seen around town and especially at the 2024 Barber Small Bore event, where Honda tossed us the keys to a 2025 Grom and said, “Have fun.” Or maybe it was “Please don’t do anything stupid.” We mostly succeeded in that and were able to get some street miles in to remind ourselves what makes the bike work for so many people, even in stock trim.

New riders will appreciate the manageable seat height, light clutch pull, and the crisp throttle that makes it easy to wrap your head around riding a motorcycle. Taller riders will appreciate the surprisingly accommodating rider triangle and the fact that there’s enough room on the flat seat to move around. Riders over 6 feet tall sit closer to the passenger seat than the tank, but their knees fit nicely in the tank cutouts and arms settle in at a neutral bend. This is not as cramped a bike as you might think.

The Grom’s rider triangle is surprisingly accommodating for taller riders, even if it means sitting way back in the flat seat that Honda transitioned to for the 2022 model year. (Drew Ruiz/)

The Grom can be willed to an indicated 66-ish mph when in a tuck and drafting your friend down a slight decline, but it runs a more comfortable 60 mph with anyone over 200 pounds riding normally on flat ground. Leep in mind: You don’t buy a minimoto for top speed, you buy it for getting comfy on two wheels, having fun, or for around-town convenience.

More specifically, you buy a Grom because it’s a Honda and because the platform has proven bulletproof since rolling onto the scene in 2014. With those Honda badges you’re also getting a bike with great fit and finish and components that would be at home on a full-size machine; switch gear, levers, and various hardware don’t come off as cheap or as afterthoughts. The only negative, perhaps, is that we’d love for the Grom to have been outfitted with sleeker turn signals and a small TFT display. Crazy request? Maybe, but other manufacturers have started putting beautiful displays on small, inexpensive bikes, proving that it’s a manageable task. A svelte-looking TFT would help modernize the Grom while still focusing on style and presence. Plus, there’s the cool factor…

The Grom’s LCD display does everything that’s asked of it but a nicer TFT unit would give customers more of a reason to purchase the latest model. If Honda is (rightfully) not going to offer bigger and faster models, then a little extra tech and styling could go a long way in encouraging riders to upgrade. (Drew Ruiz/)

Honda Grom, on the Track

Speaking of cool factor, Honda race-prepped a handful of Groms for a semi-official, three-hour endurance race at Barber Motorsports Park’s Barber Proving Grounds. Actually, there were lap timers, trophies, and champagne bottles, so maybe semi-official isn’t the right word. Let’s call it the most serious, multi-team minimoto endurance race we’ve run this year. Even if it was our only.

The bikes were equally as serious, Honda having tasked the infectious folks at MNNTHBX with building tasty-looking—and well performing—racebikes. Upgrades included everything from an Öhlins front fork cartridge kit and rear shock to triple clamps and clip-on handlebars. A Yoshmiura exhaust and Woodcraft rearsets added performance and cornering clearance, while Kenda tires offered the grip needed to throw the bike up the inside of your buddy with confidence that it’d stick. Nine times out of 10 it did, but there was definitely some shoulder rubbing too.

Related: 2021 Honda Trail 125 Review

Racebikes! MNNTHBX track-prepped five Groms for a little endurance racing action. Notice the reservoir for the Öhlins shock, Kenda tires, and clip-on handlebars mounted to new top triple clamp. Not shown is an Öhlins cartridge kit and Yoshimura exhaust, all things that made these Groms an absolute blast around a track. If you haven’t tried minimoto racing, you absolutely should! (Drew Ruiz/)

The hilarity and battling were nonstop, making the three hours of racing (split between three teammates, per team) absolutely fly by. There were muscle aches and moments when we asked, “Should I have promised to do this long of a stint?” But none of that took away from the pure enjoyment that came from pushing these sub-10-hp bikes to their limits.

As for those limits, they were a lot higher with the up-spec hardware we were rolling on, which helped us be more comfortable in “race mode” and kept the bike settled when hard on the brakes, or even harder on the throttle. The bike moved around in all the ways you’d expect a machine to when you’re squeezing the most out of it, but learning how to ride around the bike’s intricacies is what makes racing a minimoto so much fun.

The takeaway? It doesn’t require much to have a devilishly good time on a Grom. You can cruise around in stock trim, or throw a handful of parts at it and have an entirely different kind of fun at the kart track with friends. All this, of course, through a very low barrier of entry in terms of cost and commitment.

Beneath those helmets are a mix of smiles and red mist. It’s hard to not have fun riding a minimoto at the track with friends, but it’s also hard to not take it at least a little seriously. (Drew Ruiz/)

Final Thoughts

We’ve been saying that since the birth of the Grom back in 2013 and not a lot has changed since then, hold for a few manufacturers trying to kick Honda off its minimoto pedestal. Those attempts have been largely unsuccessful—and without Honda having to completely reengineer the Grom. That continues to be the case here.

So no, the 2025 Grom is not a bigger, more technologically advanced remake of last year’s bike. But it continues to be fun, stylish, and begs to be modified in whichever way works best for you. Whether that’s as a racebike, stunt bike, showbike, or anything else that you can dream up. And it’s hard to not be excited by that.

Fun things come in small, track-prepped packages. (Drew Ruiz/)
The Grom has evolved slowly over the years through careful tweaks to the design and only a handful of mechanical changes. In many ways, Honda has let the aftermarket take the lead in development and after-sales direction. (Honda/)
Special shout-out to the Grom’s younger, smaller counterpart—the Navi. This urban commuter once overtook the Grom as Honda’s bestselling streetbike, and even if it relinquished the title since, this scooterlike minimoto remains an incredibly affordable and practical form of two-wheel transportation. The 2025 model is available in nonpainted white for $1,999, and painted colors for $2,099. (Honda/)

2025 Honda Grom Specs

MSRP:	$3,599 / $3,699 (Grom SP) / $3,799 (Grom ABS)
Engine:	SOHC, air-cooled single; 2 valves/cyl.
Displacement:	124cc
Bore x Stroke:	50.0 x 63.1mm
Compression Ratio:	10.0:1
Transmission/Final Drive:	5-speed/chain
Claimed Horsepower:	9.7 hp @ 7,000 rpm
Claimed Torque:	7.7 lb.-ft. @ 5,500 rpm
Fuel System:	PGM-FI w/ 24mm throttle body
Clutch:	Wet
Engine Management/Ignition:	Electronic
Frame:	Steel mono-backbone
Front Suspension:	31mm telescopic fork; 3.9 in. travel
Rear Suspension:	Single shock; 4.1 in. travel
Front Brake:	2-piston caliper, 220mm disc, w/ optional ABS
Rear Brake:	1-piston caliper, 190mm disc
Wheels, Front/Rear:	10-spoke cast; 12 in.
Tires, Front/Rear:	120/70-12 / 130/70-12
Rake/Trail:	25.0°/3.3 in.
Wheelbase:	47.2 in.
Ground Clearance:	7.0 in.
Seat Height:	30.0 in.
Fuel Capacity:	1.6 gal.
Measured Wet Weight:	224 lb. (non-ABS) / 227 lb. (ABS)
Availability:	Now
Contact:	powersports.honda.com

Source

[Buckster]

A bike for you short arses.

[Six30]

the 2017 model , looks better than the newest one.